Sr. Vassa: There's no ontological impediment to priestesses
Is the male-only priesthood a discipline or essential to the nature of being a priest? Sr. Vassa (again unflinchingly taking up a contentious topic by climbing up the ladder to the highest platform and then jumping into the deep end head first) dives right in and says there is no reason beyond personal preference to not have female clergy. You know, when people ask me about women in priesthood, they say, 'Sister, why can't women be priests?' And I say, 'Women CAN be priests. We don't WANT them to be priests.' Because you see, God can do anything, and the Church, by divine authority, uh, can do anything, but, the Church doesn't want to - and that's a legitimate reason. What I don't like is when we TRY to pretend that there are other reasons for this, because it's legitimate not to want something, and there are reasons not to want this - right? - but, we shouldn't pretent that there's some... reason, that, for example, the maleness...
I'd love to see a version of this for the layman or laywoman.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be able to read and understand Greek for this one. Wow.
ReplyDeleteThis is not Greek. Coptic perhaps, or some form of Church Slavonic. From what I am able to tell, they are the 7 deadly sins.
ReplyDeleteIt is Greek. That is from Philotheou Monastery on Mount Athos.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed the deadly sins:
ReplyDeleteφθόνος - envy
ὀργή - anger
etc.
They look like Cyrillic letters. What does it say on the monks chest?
ReplyDelete"καρδίαν καθαρὰν κτίσον ἐν ἐμοὶ ὁ Θεὸς"
ReplyDeleteCreate in me a clean heart, O God.